Right (written by Sylvain)

I thought some of you might want to hear how I felt about our time spent together. After reading Kelly’s post, my initial reaction was simply to reply with “Yeah! What she said!!” And that would be the truth, because I truly feel the same. But I’m going to give you a bit more, from my perspective.

I drove up to her house, pulled into the driveway, and got out of my van. I had called to say I was on my way, so her door was open and before I got close, she appeared in the doorway. I was speechless. She is beautiful. I had seen pictures, but they had not done her justice. She smiled and gave me a big hug; all my anxieties melted away.

From that point on, it was as though I was with someone I had known all my life. Our actions truly complemented each other, our thoughts connected before words were even required, and her eyes told me over and over that she was feeling what I was.

That moment in the elevator which she described, the one with the little girl and the mismatched shoe laces. I had entered the elevator first, and had seen them. As I turned and was contemplating what to say (because I had to say something!) I saw Kelly’s face. She had seen them too, and immediately went into character. She kinda rolled her eyes a bit and advised the young lady that her shoe laces didn’t match. She did it exactly the way I would have, serious enough to give everyone a slight pause, but over the top just enough so that they would quickly get that she was just being silly. Everyone got a chuckle at the strange woman in the elevator. Me? Well, I fell in love with her just a little more.

There were tons of moments like that all weekend. She remembers names. The name of the guy who helped us with our bags (Dave). The name of the doorman who greeted us (Loreto). The name of the woman who cleaned our room (Jeannie). And Mark, the guy who made us those fantastic omelets. (I’m hungry now.) She makes it a point to make everyone feel valued. I love that. I do that too, but I stink at remembering names. Once again, we complemented each other. And once more, she showed me, without knowing it, what a special person she is.

And I too was able to be myself, like I never have with anyone. I could just be me, and I knew without a doubt that I was accepted and understood and appreciated. It’s an incredibly freeing feeling. You can be silly or serious or goofy. You can talk about anything. You can share tears and laughter with complete abandon. And we did just that. And her laugh, her beautiful laughter, I can still hear it, and it still warms my heart.

We’re sitting by the lake now. The sun is warm and there is a nice cool breeze. Her skirt flutters gently in the wind as we munch on some grapes. Kelly’s feet are on my lap. She doesn’t know I’m looking at her. She’s looking up in the trees at a bird we have just spotted. I’m struck once again by her beauty, her sweet smile, and her beautiful eyes. I glance out at the horizon. Somewhere between the deep blue sky and matching water, a few sailboats are dancing around. I sit quietly, holding her feet, and realizing that nothing in my life has ever felt this right.

Sylvain

view from room